Barnabas Crowe
Barnabas Crowe was the millennium old creator of Necrological Manipulation. Born of renowned medical pioneers, he believed strongly in the sanctity of life, and spent his life hunting those who used his methods evilly. Background Early despotism was marked by a constant state of war as neighboring nations fought with one another to expand territorial rights and vie for ultimate power. At that time, faith healing was still widely practiced, but some of the forerunners of modern medicine began to look for more scientific means of healing the sick and mending the wounded. Two of the most respected medical pioneers bore a son, Barnabas Crowe. Lithican War Born in the small town of Acterna, Barnabas followed in the footsteps of his parents and became an expert surgeon, and he put his skills to good use when war finally came to his doorstep. The rival nation of Sollicitus invaded his homeland, Laetifico – injuring or killing every man, woman, and child in its path. The invaders even slaughtered the innocent doctors that offered aid to injured soldiers from both sides, his parents. Barnabas found them gasping their last breaths, and no amount of science could have saved them. Their deaths greatly impacted Barnabas and his studies. He determined that a purely scientific approach would leave the field of medicine incomplete, so he began studying the mystical laws of life and death. His first successful interaction with the metaphysical world was making contact with the spirits of his dead mother and father. They taught him that the spirit cannot achieve full consciousness and fulfillment in the physical world and that is why people who are resurrected have no recollection of their time in the realm of the supernatural. They also taught him that the choices he makes in life will influence his experiences in the afterlife and that above all else he must respect free will and the natural order of life and death. Necrological Manipulation Barnabas spent several years developing new ways of controlling the physical and metaphysical worlds. He learned how to regenerate dead tissue and in doing so was able to extend his lifetime by trading his worn out body parts for new ones. In time, he learned to use his essence to animate skeletons, corpses, etc. as slaves to his will. All the while, he recorded his discoveries in a diary (many tomes in length). As the centuries wore on, his collection of scholarly material became too cumbersome to carry, so he kept only one book on his person – that which contained the secrets of prolonging life. Mathias Harper During his studies, he took on an apprentice, Mathias Harper, a promising young advocate of the integration of scientific and divine healing methods. Mathias turned out to be a very dedicated and bright individual who learned very quickly under Barnabas’s tutelage. After studying with Barnabas for five years, Mathias began to feel that Barnabas was holding him back. He decided to branch out on his own, and eventually realized he was unable to keep up with Barnabas’s research on his own. Isabella Krauss At thirty-five, Barnabas fell in love with a woman from a neighboring despot, Isabella Krauss. She also caught the eye of Mathias. After two years, Barnabas and Isabella were wed. Mathias grew extremely jealous of Barnabas’s successes in both his research and his personal life. Shortly before their first anniversary, Mathias became enraged during an argument and killed Isabella in a rage. He performed a resurrection, but her memory was largely lost in the process, due to Mathias’s inexperience with resurrections. Mathias decided to convince Isabella that she had been married to him and Barnabas had kidnapped her to run experiments on. Mathias and Isabella ran away. Barnabas returned to find Isabella missing, and began searching for her. He found rumors that Mathias and Isabella were seen sneaking away, but no trace of either of them. Barnabas spent years searching for Isabella and continued his research, keeping his archives in a personal library. The only research that he did not store in his library contains the secrets of resurrection. After twenty years, Barnabas realized that someone was stealing from his library. At the time he did not know it was Mathias that was stealing his research. To prevent his research from falling into the wrong hands, he burned his home down and became a wanderer. Return to War Barnabas wandered to the eastern side of Darvasi where a great plague was spreading. He used his skills as a doctor to slow the spread of the plague. After five years of plague ravaging the land, Barnabas was called into service by Laetifico to be a battle surgeon. Using the supplies from the battlefield, Barnabas began to practice extending his life. In 2235, a black dragon called Neceron started rampaging and looting all the kingdoms in western Darvasi. Three years later, a pact was formed rallying the western world against Neceron and ending the Lithacian War. In 2245, the final blow was dealt to Neceron, ridding the world of “The Winged Terror.” Barnabas, being one of the few people who survived the final encounter, was recognized for his involvement, being rewarded a status as social elite, and given a dragon bone as a symbol of his accomplishments. Barnabas’s unit, “The Shepherds,” was recognized as the greatest medical unit in the world, largely due to Barnabas’s experience and aptitude with both scientific and magical healing methods. Wandering Life In 2251, Barnabas was released from his military duties and continued wandering the world as a wandering healer. Barnabas spent centuries wandering the land, healing all he can, and regenerating his body to continue extending his life. In 2660, Barnabas saved the life of Otto Alvarez, the only heir of the noble house of Alvarez. As a reward, Barnabas was offered work as a healer for the family where he remained for 50 years. In 2170, Barnabas discovered that someone had been studying necromancy and spreading it across the world. He left his position as a healer for the house of Alvarez to eradicate the practice of necromancy. He spent several years hunting those who practice necromancy doing everything he could to prevent it from spreading. Mage's Guild In 3624, Barnabas participated in the Battle of Heath as a healer during the Mage War. The resulting creation of the Blasted Lands lead to a strong movement for the regulation of magic, and a guild to enforce this regulation. Barnabas saw this as a way to create a more recognized way to stop the spread of necromancy. Once the Mage's Guild was established, Barnabas began teaching medical arts at the guild as a professor. He also pushed for regulations banning necromancy, and making it illegal to practice in a way that disrespects the natural order of life and death. Five years after the Mage's Guild was established, Barnabas formed the unit called “Lifeforce,” a unit in the guild dedicated to the eradication of the arts of necromancy. After “Lifeforce” was established, Barnabas left the Mage's Guild to continue is lone crusade to end necromancy and repent for his errors. New Face In 3645, Barnabas took a new face from a fresh, unmarked grave that belonged to Jinon Mercado, a merchant who was murdered by Victor Stewart. At the time Barnabas had no idea who the grave belonged to. Involvement in Grand Unification Campaign In 3655, Barnabas was passing through the town of Storquil in the kingdom of Corthin. While there, refugees from Fabul arrived, along with Docilius Armiger, an old friend from the Mage's Guild. That night, the town was attacked by mercenaries. Barnabas and Docilius assisted in the town's defense and were able to capture one of the mercenaries and eventually the discovery of a portal. Barnabas escorted the refugees to Southport warned the king of Corthin about the possible threat of the portals. Barnabas then set out with a band to discover the origin of the portals. At the recently drained Sapphire Lake, the band ran into a necromancer by the name of Drake. Barnabas was able to recognize Drake as Mathis Harper living of the same techniques that kept Barnabas alive. Barnabas began leading the band to hunt down Drake to prevent Drake from wreaking any more havoc. Eventually, while tracking Drake, the band arrived in Narrent where they found the mage Nathaniel who was responsible for the portals. Nathaniel was apprehended and his tower was used to bate Drake to the city of Narrent. When Drake arrived, the band defeated him at great cost. Narrent then fell under attack from Glaiegwal, an ancient avatar, and the dragon Neceron. Barnabas greatly assisted in the defense of the city from both enemies. After Grand Unification Campaign After the defense of Narrent and destruction of Mathias, Barnabas returned to his wandering quest to eradicate necromancy. Physical Description Barnabas was a rather noble looking human until years of extending his life distorted his appearances. He now looks like a rather nondescript human. He changes his face however when he feels he is becoming too recognized. He is usually dressed in drab beggar's clothing, unless such clothing will draw attention. Abilities Barnabas is one of the most gifted healers in all of Darvasi. He uses both magical and scientific healing methods to maximize his effectiveness. As the father of necrological manipulation, Barnabas has a great command over the effects of life and death, though he follows a strict code. He has been able to use his techniques to extend his life for over 4,000 years. Category:Characters Category:Grand Unification Campaign Category:Grand Unification Campaign Characters